July 09, 2011

Sacred Mountain Midwifery School strives to teach the science and art of midwifery by offering a traditional approach that emphasizes apprenticeship-style training and experiential learning through lecture and hands-on experience. Our curriculum is applicable to a wide student range – from inspired to seasoned - and requires no prerequisites. Our approach is to midwife the student into midwifery. Our student body is small - so we can provide intensive small group learning and individualized training as well as growth toward individual goals. Our curriculum is based on NARM’s PEP-process and the Practical Skills Guide.

The Annie Delane Sponaugle Bennett Kisamore Scholarship FundBorn and raised on the highest mountain in West Virginia. Annie has loved these woodland mountains for ninety-four years. She was the seventh child of eleven born to her mother, Levie who lived a rugged mountain life in a tiny log cabin on Spruce Knob, WV. Levie died birthing her eleventh child at age 39 by the hands of an impatient doctor wielding forceps who arrived by horseback. Her other children were born unattended.

Annie gave birth to five babies in her lifetime. Her mother-in-law, alone, attended her. She first gave birth at age 17 to a boy with a face presentation. They thought she might be delivering a sheep. She healed and delivered three more strapping children. Her last was a stillborn.

At age 94, having out-lived two husbands, Annie continues to live alone and tend a garden and chickens. She heats her home partially with wood, bakes bread, gathers berries, mushrooms and ginseng as she has all her years. She can still wander the woods better than most half her age. Her eyes sparkle as she tells her stories. She values hard work, a healthy lifestyle and the life these West Virginian mountains have to offer.

Annie values the work and skills of the midwife. Her vision for the future generations of West Virginians is to have the midwifery care that was not available to her mother and herself.